People Who Put More Salt On Their Food Before Even Tasting It

If it's adequately salted, then salting before trying might result in a completely ruined meal.

So at first sight, it seems illogical. However, if you're the kind of salt-desensitised person for whom most food is served undersalted, then strategy #2 has the advantage of being the right one most of the time.

Basically, it's just a high-risk strategy. And the world wasn't built by people who always played it safe.

(x-poste)

I'm guessing you mean in the context of eating at someone else's house. In that case, I would think that salting the food before tasting it might actually present less risk of offending the cook. Because if you taste the food first and then salt it, you are implying that the food is undersalted or bland. But if you just sprinkle on salt willy-nilly, without tasting first, you are simply showing that you are a salt-o-phile who is crazy about salt, which doesn't imply anything about the abilities of your chef.

How do people feel about doing the same with the peppermill?

What!? I'm not a big fan of ketchup (I prefer mustard on fries, actually) but it's traditional on fries in America.

otm... when did we start equating restaurants with elementary school cafeterias? the person who came up with the recipe presumably gave a lot of thought to how he wanted the food to taste; i think of cooking as artistry and i want to respect the person that made it. unless it's a denny's or something, i mean that's just high-school kids putting buggers into the food.

I most certainly do not think of cooking as artistry. It's food, it's not art.

But yes, taste first, then season to your palate.

That's an extreme case and it would be extreme of the chef to assume that everyone has his/her palate. I'm just saying, try it their way before you salt it. If you're in Belgium, try fries with mayo before returning to your customary sauce. Yeah, maybe it's gross, but to be so hidebound, asthetically rigid and small minded as to not experiment in foreign countries or other people's tables is to condemn yourself, at best, to being a boor.

Compare with pepper, or grated cheese. Order a salad, or a plate of pasta, and they don't wait for you to taste it before deciding whether you want these things. They serve you the basic dish and then ask you up front whether you want the extras.

I certainly wouldn't think they were a boor.

Most cooks (of any variety) prefer to err on the side of undersalting common foods, since salt-lovers can always salt to taste right there at the table. That's the whole point of having them there.

Exactly.

Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, can you take that silver spoon out of your mouth? LOL

jbr OTM regarding grated cheese, there are a multitude of reasons besides "OMG people do whatever WTF" to not add that to the dish in the kitchen. Note they will ask you if you want cheese even in cheese-sauce dishes.

This is no more insulting to the chef's design than it is to specify how you want your steak done! I mean, sure, it'd be annoying to watch somebody just demolish your flavors with salt, but adding-before-tasting does not mean demolishing. It just means recognizing that most dishes do not come "with salt," and sometimes you want a dish "with salt."

xpost

Why do people have a problem with this? In no way is an insult to the cook's judgement.

I can't imagine any sort of fry TOO salty. Unless it was coated in Elmer's glue and then packed in salt overnight....

hahaha I love this thread

I could never understand people who put salt on everything until I tried my wife's cooking.

...rimshot?

lol 2 years later:

Dan, would I add this salt to the french press while the coffee steeps, or add it to the cup when I pour one?

Add it to the french press with the grounds. You don't need very much at all; just a dash should be plenty.

i love salt, i have loads on everything. used to drive my mum crackers.

OK, for a second I was like, "What the hell are mum crackers?"

Wanted: a fresh batch of opinions on People Who Put More Salt On Their Food Before Even Tasting It. Because now, more than ever, salt matters.

salt is god's spice

Sometimes I add salt to the plate before adding food to it.

Ah, good times.

What kind of person salts another human being?

I do this with omelets, as most omelets are sadly lacking in the sodium necessary to make an omelet a Tasty Treat. Rarely have I been wrong in my Omelet Assumptions, but maybe I'm eating omelets from the Wrong Places.

P.S. Lots of black pepper is pretty much the most essential ever. As well.

I never ever ever salt food.

Black pepper tho - oh man. I have to grind that bastard at least 50 times to get my fix.

i'm getting better with salt, but potatoes and eggs of any kind require it.

black pepper with everything, everytime

Most people are too cautious when salting food while cooking. I suppose it's good to be careful, you don't want to ruin a whole dish. But really, just about everything could use a couple more tablespoons of salt.

otm salt improves flavour

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/sep/20/foodanddrink.shopping1

this is for ppl who have high blood pressure and stuff bc they eat too much salt

ok so uh this is an actual LSAT question (btw LSAT is an acronym for... well you guessed it)

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae232/daggerlee/salt.jpg

Is it just me or is that the most unambiguous standardized test question ever?

Is every LSAT question like that? Maybe I should take it.

A?

it's the last question in the section which usually means it's a harder than average question and a lot of people get it wrong xp

was I right about the answer?

it depends, do you believe it is okay to salt your food before tasting it?

I don't see how it can be anything other than A.

xp: I don't, but that's because I don't like salt on everything.

i don't do it myself, but i don't have a problem with it personally

HI DERE, we should both go and take the LSATs. If this is a hard question (assuming we're right that the answer is A) we could be money!

it is A :)

if by money you mean you can go to law school so you can be in debt and unemployed

also that's def not a hard one!

ya even I got it right on the first try :) it was the last question of the last section so maybe the LSAT creators just wanted to give the test takers a gimmie

I took this quick quiz and got 4/4 right. Law school here I come! (but not really.)

http://www.petersons.com/testprep/quiz.asp?id=1229&sponsor=1&path=gr.pft.lsat

1. Buses 1, 2, and 3 make one trip each day, and they are the only ones that riders A, B, C, D, E, F, and G take to work.

Neither E nor G takes bus 1 on a day when B does.
G does not take bus 2 on a day when D does.
When A and F take the same bus, it is always bus 3.
C always takes bus 3.

Hate these kinds of questions, wtf is E and G's problem with B anyway.

yeah, that's the hardest section i think. they're fun to do in general but not when you have 40 seconds per question or whatever it is.

oh wait I missed out the LOLest part, the question + answer, which is ridiculously easy if you actually read the boring preamble.

Traveling together to work, B, C, and G could take which of the same buses on a given day?

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 2 and 3 only
(E) 1, 2, and 3

I think that company doesn't actually use real LSAT questions they just make up their own LSAT-style questions

yeah and their site gives you easy ones so you will be inspired to sign up for the test!

lololololol at that question

LSAT is an anagram for SALT. Important.

also, a wise man taught me to salt the plate first, before putting the food on it (esp. w/ pizza) so that you have even coverage. not naming names, but this man can stand up and take credit if he wants.

it was me

I love this thread

hahaha I love this thread

― Ca-hoot na na na oh oh (HI DERE), Tuesday, December 9, 2008 11:46 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

COOK: Tell that bitch she can salt her own goddamn fries.

If it's undersalted, then trying it first before salting will lead to one spoiled mouthful
If it's adequately salted, then salting before trying might result in a completely ruined meal.

So at first sight, it seems illogical. However, if you're the kind of salt-desensitised person for whom most food is served undersalted, then strategy #2 has the advantage of being the right one most of the time.

Basically, it's just a high-risk strategy. And the world wasn't built by people who always played it safe.

― Alba (Alba), Friday, March 3, 2006 12:40 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've found myself salting food more and more. I think I just really like the taste of salt more than I like the taste of food. My goal is never to enhance the flair of the food, I just want it to taste really salty.

I don't understand anyone who puts extra salt on things.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, March 3, 2006 11:37 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark

"Extra"?

Flavor, not flair.

Who is tissp to determine what is "extra" for these people whose salting he or she doesn't understand? Outrageous.